Softball: Integrity takes a back seat at El Modena

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Moments after El Modena came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat La Palma Kennedy, 4-3, in eight innings Tuesday in a Southern Section-Toyota Division II softball semifinal, Coach Steve Harrington said it ‘was a testimony of character, heart and courage. That’s what that was about. Team unity. Everything we preach as a program.’

It was also a testimony to deception. Harrington had most of his El Modena players wear different jersey numbers than the ones they wore during the regular season.

If you were Kennedy, the numbers were different from the ones you’ve seen previously. If you’re Glendora or Garden Grove Pacifica scouting the game in preparation for the championship, the numbers from Tuesday won’t match the ones in the final today (assuming the Vanguards show up with their regular numbers).

Slick, huh?

It’s not the first time it has happened. Harrington did it last season against Century League rival Anaheim Canyon.

I seriously doubt the El Toro baseball team resorted to switching jerseys to confuse Redlands East Valley in advance of their Division II championship. I don’t think the Servite football team would even consider this stunt the week before playing Mater Dei, or the Dominguez boys’ basketball team before playing Fairfax. No exceptional program would.

‘Both you and I know why he chose to do it,’ said Brian Fortenbaugh, a wrestling coach in his second year as El Modena’s athletic director. ‘I’m going to tell him my thoughts and feelings behind it.’

Scott Raftery, the section commissioner in charge of softball, said, ‘If there were shenanigans going on, we would have questions.... What they’re doing is within the rules and guidelines, but it looks deceptive and outside ‘Victory with Honor.’’

Just victory.

By all accounts, Harrington had the bases covered in preparing for this game. The players made plays and pitches, and showed character and heart (but not so much ‘courage’ as it’s defined in my vocabulary) to beat a great team.

Could they have done it without the deception? Probably. But Harrington’s schoolboy maneuver stained an otherwise brilliant performance.

At best, it was unbecoming a champion. At worst, it was bush league.

-- Martin Henderson